Eye on Extremism
May 25, 2022
The New York Times: Texas Shooting Is The Deadliest At An Elementary School Since Newtown.
“The shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday jolted a nation numbed by a drumbeat of mass shootings and evoked painful memories of another time a gunman crossed the sacred threshold of an elementary school and opened fire in Newtown, Conn., 10 years ago. The shooting at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday “horrifically, incomprehensibly” killed 14 students and a teacher, Gov. Greg Abbott announced. Within hours, the death toll rose to 19 students and two adults. It was the deadliest shooting at an elementary school since Newtown, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group. The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012 killed 20 first graders and six adults and plunged the nation into a stunned grief. The image of 6-year-old and 7-year-old children sprayed with bullets and stripped of life was initially seen as a potential turning point in a national effort for stricter gun laws, but failed to lead to immediate results in Congress. In the year after Newtown, newly enacted state laws more often loosened gun laws than strengthened them. Though shootings at schools quieted during the beginning of the pandemic, when schools across the country shut down, they began again in earnest last year as society reopened and more students returned to learning in person.”
Politico: Biden Made Final Decision To Keep Iran’s IRGC On Terrorist List
“President Joe Biden has finalized his decision to keep Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on a terrorist blacklist, according to a senior Western official, further complicating international efforts to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Another person familiar with the matter said Biden conveyed his decision during an April 24 phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, adding that the decision was conveyed as absolutely final and that the window for Iranian concessions had closed. Bennett later confirmed the contents of his conversation with Biden last month in a tweet. “I welcome the decision by the US Administration to keep Iran’s IRGC on the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list — which is where it belongs,” he added. The United States placed the IRGC on its “Foreign Terrorist Organizations” list in 2019. The designation was part of the “maximum pressure” campaign then-President Donald Trump imposed on Iran after pulling the United States out of the nuclear deal, which had restricted Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief. Israel has long been among the most vocal foreign governments in opposing the removal of the Iranian military branch from the terrorism list and the continuation of the nuclear agreement.”
United States
NBC News: ISIS Operative In U.S. Plotted To Assassinate George W. Bush, FBI Alleges
“An Iraqi citizen who entered the U.S. in September 2020 allegedly plotted to kill George W. Bush, even traveling to Dallas to surveil the former president's home, according to an FBI search warrant affidavit obtained by NBC News. The FBI alleges that Shihab Ahmed Shihab, of Columbus, Ohio, wanted to provide material support to the Islamic State terrorist group, telling a confidential FBI source that he wanted to smuggle people into the country “to murder former President George W. Bush” because he held him responsible for killing numerous Iraqis in the 2003 invasion of the country. Forbes first reported the alleged plot. Soumyajit Dutta, a public defender representing Shihab, said in court Tuesday that the suspect has worked odd jobs and as a food vendor and has no close relatives in the U.S., according to NBC affiliate WCMH-TV in Columbus. Shihab has been charged with aiding and abetting the attempted murder of a former federal official in retaliation for the performance of official duties, and attempting to bring a foreigner to the U.S. for financial gain. Federal prosecutors are asking that Shihab be detained without bond, with a hearing set for Friday. The FBI says Shihab entered the U.S. legally and then applied for political asylum while also trying to marry a U.S. woman to secure his immigration status.”
Associated Press: Man Linked To White Supremacist Group Sent To Prison
“A Michigan man described as a leader of a white supremacist group was sentenced to nearly three years in prison Tuesday for conspiring to train for civil disorder, the attorney general’s office said. Investigators said Justen Watkins and two other men entered vacant state properties in Tuscola County in 2020 to assess whether they could be used as “hate camps” for paramilitary training. Watkins, 25, of Bad Axe was associated with The Base, a group that has pushed a fringe philosophy advocating mass violence to hasten society’s collapse. He was sentenced to at least 32 months in prison. A message seeking comment was sent to Watkins’ attorney. Four members of The Base have been convicted in Tuscola or Washtenaw counties since charges were filed in 2020.”
Bellingcat: Fascist Fashion: How Mainstream Businesses Enable The Sale Of Far-Right Merchandise
“…Numerous far-right and neo-Nazi organisations have taken to raising cash and spreading each other’s brand names by hawking a variety of clothing and merchandise in recent years. According to Dr. Hans Jakob-Schindler from the international policy organisation, Counter Extremism Project, far-right webshops are “one of a range of methods by which the overall movement is financing itself.” Such operations have two distinct advantages, he added. “They allow easy cross border sales, as you do not have to have a physical shop in the jurisdiction of your customer base, and they can easily [be] adapted to changing circumstances” if, for example, a crackdown occurs in one country or area. But it’s not just about being a potential source of finance. As others have noted, including professor Cynthia Miller-Idriss in her book, “Hate in the Homeland”, these stores can help connect the global far-right discourse, strengthen ideologies and help the far-right see itself as part of a broader, global movement. Far-right clothing and items have previously been reported as being sold in mainstream online stores. But the likes of Amazon, Google and Wish have taken steps to remove obscene material in recent years. This has led some far-right groups to seek other means of promoting and selling their products.”
Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat: ISIS Plotted To Seize Syria's Hasakeh, Declare Formation Of New Group
“ISIS was plotting to seize Syria's Hasakeh city and launch new operations to seize the province in wake of this year's prison break by members of the terrorist organization, revealed a member of a sleeper cell of the group. The Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) released the confessions of the detainee, Abdullah Ismail Ahmed. Ahmed, 28, hails from the town of al-Hol in Hasakeh. He confessed to joining ISIS in 2014. He started off as a fighter, then rose up the ranks to become a administrative official and was later appointed a leader of a brigade that was tasked with carrying out terrorist attacks in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor. He led military operations in Hasakeh and its countryside after ISIS' military defeat and the loss of its territories in 2019. Ahmed revealed that the jailbreak at Gweiran Prison in January was supposed to be a top secret mission. He was ordered to carry it out by “Abdulaziz”, the ISIS “wali”, or ruler, of Hasakeh. The plot was to be carried out in three phases. The first would see the release of several leading ISIS inmates, the second would see the capture of the prison with the aid of the terrorist inmates and the third would see the capture of areas in the vicinity of the facility and eventually territories leading to the al-Hol camp and the Iraqi-Syrian border.”
Iraq
Associated Press: 5 Turkish Soldiers Killed In Clashes Against PKK In Iraq
“Five Turkish soldiers were killed Tuesday in clashes with Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, Turkey’s defense ministry said. Two other soldiers were wounded in the fighting. The clashes took place during Turkey’s latest cross-border offensive against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which maintains bases in northern Iraq. Turkey launched its latest offensive, named Operation Claw Lock last month in northern Iraq’s Metina, Zap and Avashin-Basyan regions. The defense ministry didn’t provide information on Tuesday’s clashes.The fatalities raises the number of Turkish soldiers killed in the latest offensive to 17, according to a count by The Associated Press. Turkey maintains that dozens of PKK militants were killed during the operation but the deaths can’t be independently verified. Turkey has conducted numerous cross-border aerial and ground operations against the PKK in northern Iraq over the past decades. Its military has also conducted several incursions in Syria to push Syrian Kurdish fighters — who Ankara views as an extension of the PKK — away from its borders.”
Turkey
Daily Sabah: Turkey Detains 21 Daesh-Linked Suspects In Nationwide Operations
“Turkish security forces detained at least 21 Daesh-linked suspects in counterterrorism operations across the country, including Yozgat, Istanbul and Kocaeli provinces on Tuesday. In Yozgat-based operations, police detained eight suspected Daesh terrorists, who allegedly fought for the terrorist group in conflict zones and illegally entered Turkey. The raids were conducted in Istanbul, Adana, Kahramanmaraş, Çorum and Şanlıurfa provinces. Five of the suspects detained in the operations were arrested and sent to prison, while three of them were released on judicial control procedures. In Istanbul, counterterrorism squads detained four suspects in operations against Daesh and al-Qaida terrorist groups. The suspects were allegedly planning to carry out attacks on behalf of the terrorist groups. Two of the suspects were identified as foreign nationals, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry announced that a Daesh terrorist planning to carry out a suicide attack was detained in the Küçükçekmece district in Istanbul on Tuesday. The terrorist, identified as Anas Abbud Alshahi Bnaman, had Daesh-linked materials at his address in the district, the ministry said. The total number of terrorists planning to carry out suicide attacks detained by Turkish security forces has reached 12 in 2022, the ministry added.”
Afghanistan
Fox News: Afghan Rebel Group Asks For Biden’s Support, Warns Of New Terror Threats
“Afghanistan's lead resistance group, the National Resistance Front (NRF), has one message for the Biden administration: don't ignore terror threats coming from Afghanistan. The group noted that mistake was made by the Clinton administration in the lead up to the 9/11 terror attacks. In a statement to Fox News Digital, the NFR's head of foreign relations, Ali Maisam Nazary, said the time for action is now. “Our message to the Biden administration is to not make the same mistake the Clinton administration (made) when they ignored the threat of terrorism in the mid and late 1990s and led to 9/11. The White House has to act fast and adopt a proactive approach to counterterrorism by allowing democratic and anti-terrorist forces like the NRF to liberate Afghanistan,” he said. The warning comes as the Taliban is facing a new low-intensity campaign in the north from rebels, who in recent weeks have launched attacks against its fighters. Afghanistan’s fighting season is known to start in the spring and generally run through October. In previous years this was when the Taliban and its allies would wage attacks against U.S. forces and the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The current fighting is largely happening in the north of the country and is being led by the NRF in the country’s Panjshir Valley, a rugged and mountainous bastion of anti-Taliban resistance north of Kabul where the Taliban consolidated its control last September.”
Lebanon
Voice Of America: Lebanon's New Parliament Faces Problem Of Hezbollah's Weapons
“Now that Hezbollah has lost control of Lebanon’s parliament, the reformists, independents, and anti-Hezbollah forces in Lebanon’s newly elected parliament may be angling to take on the longstanding issue of the group’s weapons, analysts say. The Iran-backed Hezbollah political party is also the only militia to have not disarmed after the end of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, and its weapons cache reportedly outguns that of the national army. Samir Geagea heads the Lebanese Forces and opposes fellow Christian, Michel Aoun, Lebanon’s president, and his alliance with Hezbollah. Geagea’s party won 19 parliamentary seats in a recent election that saw Hezbollah lose its majority in Lebanon’s parliament. Geagea recently urged opposition groups, independents, and small parties to work together “to activate this opposition after it has become the majority in parliament,” in remarks noted by Lebanon’s National News Agency. Geagea campaigned on sovereignty issues and seeing Hezbollah disarmed. Speaking to the French news agency, AFP, Geagea said, “All strategic decision making should return to the Lebanese state, and security and military matters should be handled exclusively by the Lebanese army. No one, he said, should be able to transport missiles from one place to another without the permission and knowledge of the military” – a reference to Hezbollah.”
Middle East
The Jerusalem Post: Hamas Terrorist Cell Busted By Shin Bet, Planned To Attack Israeli MK
“A Hamas terrorist cell in east Jerusalem that planned to attack Religious Zionist Party MK Itamar Ben-Gvir and other Israeli targets was thwarted by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). The five cell members were indicted in a Jerusalem court on Tuesday, more than a month after their arrest. The cell was led by Rashid Rashek, a prominent Hamas operative in Jerusalem’s Old City, the Shin Bet said. Along with Hamas operative Mansour Tzafadi, from Abu Tor in southeastern Jerusalem, he planned a shooting attack or suicide bombing in the capital, it said. According to the Shin Bet’s investigation, Rashek recruited a number of operatives in Jerusalem who would riot in the city’s eastern neighborhoods as well as on the Temple Mount during Ramadan “to destabilize the Temple Mount and Jerusalem.” The operatives brought fireworks, Hamas flags and other paraphernalia to use during the riots. The investigation found that Rashek recruited a number of operatives in Jerusalem who would riot in the city’s eastern neighborhoods as well as on the Temple Mount during the month of Ramadan “in order to destabilize the Temple Mount and Jerusalem.” The operatives brought fireworks, Hamas flags and other paraphernalia to use during the riots.”
The Times Of Israel: US Slaps Sanctions On Hamas Moneymen Funding $500 Million Terror Finance Network
“The US Treasury Department on Tuesday announced that it had sanctioned a Hamas official along with a network of backers of the terror group. The network is overseen by Hamas’s Investment Office, which runs the day-to-day management of more than $500 million in assets, including firms in Sudan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and the United Arab Emirates. The targeted individuals being sanctioned by the Treasury Department under a 2001 executive order that allows for the financial holdings of designated individuals or groups to be blocked in order to stem terror funding. “Today’s action targets the individuals and companies that Hamas uses to conceal and launder funds,” says Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes Elizabeth Rosenberg while in Israel to discuss terrorism financing efforts. “Hamas has generated vast sums of revenue through its secret investment portfolio while destabilizing Gaza, which is facing harsh living and economic conditions. Hamas maintains a violent agenda that harms both Israelis and Palestinians. The United States is committed to denying Hamas the ability to generate and move funds and to holding Hamas accountable for its role in promoting and carrying out violence in the region,” she added in a statement released by her office.”
Somalia
Associated Press: For New Somalia Government, Al-Shabab A Threat To Authority
“A Somali police officer recently received an unexpected summons from the enemy. An unknown caller ordered him to report to a town outside the capital, Mogadishu, where the extremist group al-Shabab would settle a dispute between him and his brother. The caller assured the officer he would be safe even if he showed up in uniform. Overcoming his fear, Khadar traveled to meet with a panel of four bearded men in an office made from iron sheets. The al-Shabab men wanted to know why he was denying his brothers a share of the land they inherited from their father. “After an hour and a half of debate, the men directed me to distribute the inheritance among my brothers,” Khadar recalled in an interview with The Associated Press, withholding his last name for safety concerns. Khadar complied, an extraordinary gesture to an armed group that continues to pose a deadly threat to his police colleagues and his government at large.”
Mali
France 24: Islamic State Group ‘Trying To Control’ Mali-Niger Border With Series Of Attacks
“The Islamic State (IS) group appears to be stepping up attacks close to the border between Mali and Niger, with sources suggesting that the jihadists are trying to seize control of the border itself. FRANCE 24’s terrorism expert Wassim Nasr explains. Amid proliferating jihadist activity, insecurity has racked the vast, semi-arid Sahel region just south of the Sahara for years. “The Islamic State [group] is on the offensive since the beginning of the month of April in many places on the border between Mali and Niger,” Nasr said. “They are trying to control this border.” IS group has either seized control of or forced civilians to flee at least five towns on the Malian side of the border, Nasr said. “The first attack started in Anderamboukane [on the Malian side] in April, and the latest attack happened in Emis-Emis and Inekar [towns farther north], where the Islamic State [group] went from Inarabane [near the border] to attack those regions. [...] We see clearly that they aim to control this area, which is rich in water but also in hiding places, because they are trying to anticipate what is going to happen next and they want a sanctuary in this part of Malian territory. “There has been no reaction from the Malian government,” Nasr said.”
Africa
Asharq Al-Awsat: Training Courses On Counter-Terrorism Kick Off In Rabat
“The Rabat-based UNOCT Program Office for Counter-Terrorism and Training in Africa launched on Monday a series of specialized training courses on counter-terrorism, organized in collaboration with the Australian government. This first session of a 10-week training, supervised by international experts, aims to bolster the specialized and technical capabilities of participants in the field of investigations and counter-terrorism. Twenty-four participants representing law enforcement institutions from six African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal) will take part in the first “basic level” training module, which will conclude on June 10. The training modules will be delivered over the course of a year, according to the following schedule: basic module from May 23 until June 10, the intermediate module from September 5 until 23, the advanced level from November 21 until December 9, and the trainer level will take place in February 2023. Speaking via videoconference, the Deputy Director of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, Mauro Miedico, said the Office, which is the first of its kind in Africa, aims to become a training, qualification and capacity-building hub in the fight against terrorism by organizing training sessions that are supervised by regional and international experts.”
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